When to plant out spuds?

[Croila]

The first tatties I ever tried growing (and that was last year!) were Sharpe's Express. I LOVE them! So being incredibly unadventurous I went and bought a whole load more this year, nothing else.

They're chitting away happily at the moment but I'm not too sure when to plant them out - I've got four bag thingies plus two wee patches of ground in the back garden.

If anyone lives around this part of the country and grows tatties, I'd love to hear when you plant them out please!

[bronwen]

Was able to go to the RHS Great Londonn Plant Fair on Wednesday and bought some Sharpe's Express and Kestrels. Will be growing in bags and containers. I haven't grown potatoes before and was wondering how many potatoes should I put in each bag/pot? I was thinking 3 per bag? Any advice would be appreciated!

[miker2d2]

i put some in bags just outside several weeks ago, most are showing and i've added some more compost. earlies been in the ground a few weeks as well but no sign yet (prob put them in early but got too excited!)

[Croila]

Tattieman made a brilliant videos on planting tatties in bags. I watched it last year and forgot to bookmark it, and now I can't find it! Will have to have a really good search because I did the bag-planting thing all wrong last year and got a rubbish yield. I'll post the link if/when I can find it!

[Croila]

Aha! Got it!

Potato Planters | Autumn and Christmas Potatoes | Seed Potato Catalogue

[bronwen]

Thanks for providing the link croila. I didn't expect to fit 5 potatoes in each bag. Might do a little googling to see if that's the norm.

[Croila]

I know what you mean, five seems a lot, but then again ... If that guy doesn't know how to do it, I'd be amazed. Tatties are his business, after all!

I put five to a bag last year and didn't get a very good yield but I suspect that was more to do with me not feeding and watering them properly.

[BUFFS]

i put my orla,king edwards and charlotte out in tubs nearly 3 weeks ago,3ins of compost over them initially to protect them,last year was a lot colder,minus 0 each night til mid april,this year mostly dark and wet,normal for up here..the sun has just come out for the first time this week it seems..

[nerdgas]

I know what you mean, five seems a lot, but then again ... If that guy doesn't know how to do it, I'd be amazed. Tatties are his business, after all!

I put five to a bag last year and didn't get a very good yield but I suspect that was more to do with me not feeding and watering them properly.

I thought he'd updated his advice last year and recommended only 2 or 3 spuds per bag rather than the 5.

[nerdgas]

Here's the relevant post:

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...tml#post595274

[Florence Fennel]

The road to hell being paved with good intentions, I've only put my first few in bags today, despite my saying they were going in last Monday! I'm hoping to get some help tomorrow to put the rest in the ground. Fingers crossed.

[Croila]

Here's the relevant post:

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...tml#post595274

Nerdgas thanks very much for this! Much appreciated. That's interesting that the advice now is only 2 or 3 tatties per bag. I had 5 in each bag last year and it wasn't good. Can't wait to get cracking this year!

[Croila]

The road to hell being paved with good intentions, I've only put my first few in bags today, despite my saying they were going in last Monday! I'm hoping to get some help tomorrow to put the rest in the ground. Fingers crossed.

I'm going to try and do some tomorrow